Posted by Taylor Fletcher on Jul 29th 2021
Jindro Mayer Springer Tournee & National Championships
The time has come for yet another Jindro Mayer Springer Tournee and National Championships. This is our biggest competition of the year where all ages, abilities, and clubs come to Park City, Utah for the Event. In part it is a great memorial for a great person, and now has become the National Championships for the sports of ski jumping and Nordic combined.
Jindo Mayer was one of the coaches up North in Calgary, Alberta. He was tragically killed with one of his daughters while driving home on December 30, 2004. He was a major driving force in Ski jumping and Nordic combined for Canada. Along with Gregor Linsig the two started the Springer Tournee in 1999 as a two series competition in Park City, Utah and Calgary, Alberta, Canada. After Jindo’s passing, the competition became a memorial to the late coach and continues to this day. This year is going to be the 22nd year of the event and we have approximately 120 skiers ranging in ages of 5 years old to 31 years old, which is yours truly (oldie). I have taken apart in every competition I believe and its always the highlight of the summer.
At the same time is our national championships. Many are confused on how we are able to hold nationals during the summer as there isn’t snow and its usually in the 90’s during the day. Starting around 2008 we started to host Nationals in the summer or fall on the summer ski jumps and with roller skis. Snow has always been an issue in late March when everyone is home from the season and wax is always a touchy subject as conditions can greatly vary and as we all know so can the skis. While yes, it is different as it is not in the winter, the same priorities and goals take shape. This year we will have a strong field with a strong developing junior group that is all hungry. Last year Nationals was cancelled due to the pandemic, and everyone is looking to toe the line and make their bid for the national title.
While I look to defend my title, I know there are a few things that I will focus on. For me a big factor in the sport is working on the process, instead of results. Jumping is the big goal for me as it will make my life on the cross-country portion much easier. While I love to push my body to max and try to set the fastest times on the xc side, being able cruise will much more enjoyable. Time will tell what happens, but I feel confident that I have a good shot at the title and rolling into this next year as National Championship.